Rating: 
Summary: Simply Wonderful
Review: When I picked up "A Song in the Dark" I was curious to see how someone could make a book about pre-42nd Street musicals. Most histories of the Hollywood musical start with 42nd Street and consign the earlier films to a dark, unknowable, unwatchable past.Barrios made this era come to life. He writes in an engaging, witty style that is a pleasure to read. He never takes a superior tone to his material, and he makes the reader want to track down and see some of these films. (He also makes it clear that some are best avoided.) "A Song in the Dark" greatly deepened my understanding of the Hollywood musical, and I strongly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: unexplored territory in film history- early sound musicals
Review: Witty, insightful description of the perilous transition to sound. Barrios writes about this period with an eye for historical detail and an elegiac nod for the passing of a bygone era. I especially enjoyed Barrios' description of tantalizing "lost" titles likes "Golddiggers of Broadway". A must for film buffs and lovers of the time period- thelate 20's and early 30's.
| 
